The Overshadowed Preacher: Mary, the Spirit, and the Labor of Proclamation

by Jerusha Matsen Neal, Luke A. Powery (Foreword)

The Overshadowed Preacher  breaks open one of the most important, unexamined affirmations of the presence of the living Christ in the sermon.  Jerusha Matsen Neal argues that Mary’s conceiving, bearing, and naming of Jesus in Luke’s nativity account is a potent description of this mystery. Mary’s example calls preachers to leave behind the false shadows haunting Christian pulpits and be “overshadowed” by the Spirit of God.  Neal   asks gospel proclaimers to own both the limits and the promise of their humanness as God’s Spirit-filled servants rather than disappear behind a “pulpit prince” ideal. It is a preacher’s fully embodied witness, lived out through Spirit-filled acts of hospitality, dependence, and discernment, that bears the marks of a fully embodied Christ. This affirmation honors the particularity of preachers in a globally diverse context—challenging a status quo that has historically privileged masculinity and whiteness. It also offers hope to ordinary souls who find themselves daunted by the impossibility of the preaching task. Nothing, in the angel’s words, is impossible with God.

Genres: Theology

267 pages, Hardcover

Published October 8, 2020

Reviews

[Hannah Jones-Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well thought out and clearly presented idea! Definitely a more academic read so it takes a while longer to really get through

[Kristina Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Neal was my professor for Intro to Preaching and is currently my professor for "The Overshadowed Preacher" at Duke Divinity School. She's incredible, so I should've expected her book to be similarly impactful. Admittedly, I decided to read this book only to get a better grasp of what to expect for class, and was only half-heartedly committed to a quick skim. In the end, I finished it in two days, took 8 pages of typed, single-spaced notes (it's not a light read!), and found myself choked with emotion multiple times. This book was a healing balm for my soul, and I'm so grateful to have read it.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an ambitious project; I believe it succeeds. In crafting her theology of Spirit-filled preaching, Jerusha Matsen Neal draws together homiletics, biblical studies (especially Luke-Acts), Mariology, pneumatology, feminist and womanist theory, Reformed sacramentology, Wesleyan sensibilities, and her own experience as a mission partner and preaching pedagogue. It's a lot to take in, and for the first half of the book I wasn't quite sure that all of these sprawling elements would fully cohere. But in the second half, the author won me over with her winsome combination of constructive framework, tight argumentation, fine distinctions, personal vignettes, and luminous prose. I particularly treasured the final three chapters ("Conceiving", "Bearing", and "Naming"). My only regret is that this resource wasn't around 15 years ago, when I was first learning to preach; it's far more vibrant, more holistic, and more deeply "biblical" than any of the texts I was assigned in seminary. Highly recommended to preachers, professors, and interested congregants.

[Rob O'Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reviewing this book for the Stone-Campbell Journal and my review will appear in a forthcoming issue.

[James Harnish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, thoughtful and inspiring word about how Christ is present in preaching. Though it does cary the weight of being a PhD dissertation, it is well worth the effort.